Shaky
Shaky was a sergeant of the Black Company who participated in their Juniper campaign. After surviving the bloody Battle of Juniper, he was among 50 Company men who were persuaded by the Limper and Whisper to remain in service to the Lady's Empire and betray the rest of the Company. ''Shadows Linger'' Shaky is first mentioned in the Annals in Juniper. He most likely arrived there with the main body of the Company, which was led by the Captain from the Barrowland, clear across the northern continent and over the Wolander Mountains, into Juniper. There is also a small chance he was part of the advance team (including Elmo, Croaker, Goblin, and others) which was flown into the city by the new Taken via flying carpet. At the Battle of Juniper, Shaky and One-Eye directed a group of laborers in digging a sapper's tunnel beneath the Black Castle. Their plan was to undermine one of the castle's walls so it would collapse down the roughest nearby slope. They made no attempt to hide their actions, because their enemies – the Black Watchers – were demonic entities and would have seen through any subterfuge. This was all orchestrated by the Lieutenant, a veteran of siege warfare. When the Black Watchers rushed out of their castle, they moved to attack some of Shaky's laborers. Shaky and One-Eye, combat veterans, stood to arms, but many laborers panicked and got killed or crippled trying to flee across the brushy, rocky, steep slope. To help them, the Lieutenant ordered harassing arrow fire. After being saved by One-Eye's wizardry, the laborers and presumably Shaky fought toe-to-toe with the group of attacking Black Watchers, killing them all despite suffering heavy casualties. Later, One-Eye and Shaky stopped their digging for the sapper's tunnel when they realized they could not breach the substance of the Black Castle itself. After landing her damaged carpet near their tunnel, the new Taken Whisper applied what Croaker described as an "egg of fire" (a sorcery weapon that actually emitted very little heat) to the underside of the Castle. Whisper then personally led Shaky's force of armed men into the Castle from the bottom, with only One-Eye refusing to accompany them. Shaky not only survived the fighting inside the Castle itself, but also, the subsequent civilian revolt led by Hargadon, and, the Lady's cataclysmic reply that wrecked the entire city. He was not among those Company men who were informed about the Taken plot to betray them all. He would immediately become one of at least 50 Company men who were persuaded by the Limper and Whisper to forsake their Company oath and join the Taken's service. Shaky and this group were now loyal to the Limper. Shaky and the 50 former-Company men pushed hard on horseback with the Limper and Whisper from Juniper to Meadenvil. The sergeant knew that he was on a "private adventure with the Taken", and that the Lady did not sanction this trip. But, on account of whatever the Limper told him, Shaky was eager for the blood of his former brothers, who were already in Meadenvil. Shaky shared these details, as well as details about the grim fate of Juniper itself, with Pawnbroker... right before attempting to kill him. Pawn escaped but with numerous wounds. Shaky is not mentioned again in the available Annals. If he survived the fight with Pawn, Shaky would have then taken part in the clash against the Prince of Meadenvil's soldiers at the city's waterfront. Most of the former-Company were killed in this "big blowout", including possibly Shaky, because they were poorly rested from the hard ride. But at least nine of this group survived to accompany the Limper to the countryside. All nine were killed in the subsequent ambush orchestrated by Croaker. Category:Characters Category:Black Company Category:Sergeants of the Black Company Category:Imperials